SING Nigeria partners Reps on creative intelligence, skill development to tackle unemployment, insecurity

Sustainable Initiative for Nurturing Growth (SING) Nigeria said it has secured endorsement and partnership with over 50 House of Representative members to undergo a nationwide intensive training on Creative Intelligent Technology (CIT) and Digital Skill Development (DSD) for youth.

This was contained in a press statement issued today by the Executive Director of the Foundation, Idris-Etanami Usman who said that the need to ensure rapid digital inclusion and skill up of the nation’s youthful population has become urgent if the nation must address unemployment and insecurity.

Idris-Etanami said that the rising youth unemployment figures which has been aggravated by the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus necessitated that the nation must make concerted move to tap into the rich potentials of the digital space.

“It suffices to note that the pandemic which has further worsen the nation’s unemployment figures which stood at 21.7 million unemployed graduates as at the end of the second quarter of 2020, means that the nation must think in the direction of CIT and DSD, which will raise a sect of job creators in the nearest future so the nation can benefit from the highly sought digital technology market”, he explained.

The Executive Director said that the Foundation, in line with its strategic vision of empowering Nigerian youth, is making more efforts at securing partnership with all lawmakers and other key stakeholders in order for the nation to harness the rich deposits of the digital space for development.

He therefore called on relevant stakeholders to reach out to the Foundation for partnership in its genuine effort at leveraging the digital market for the good of the nation through digital empowerment training.

“SING Nigeria has identified that the technology industry has continued to grow at an accelerated pace, which means that companies across a range of sectors now face a shortage of professionals with requisite CIT skills to fill their workforce needs. This increasing demand for workers with CIT skills has therefore opened up opportunities for young people to pursue careers in CIT”, it said.

The statement said that the planned digital programme is hinged on the tripod of “Learning, Innovation and Impact” in the industry subsector for the teeming youth; adding that, “the CIT & DSD package has been carefully designed in phases for hands-on learning and innovation, and participants will, at the completion of the training, become innovators, creative practitioners, techpreneurs and change makers in their own rights, with or without formal education”.

While emphasizing on the need for all stakeholders in the Nigerian project to prioritize human capital development as a means of addressing the challenges of unemployment, Idris-Etanami also expressed the believe that it represents a multifaceted solution to challenges the nation currently faces.

“The current spate of insecurity in the country is not unconnected to the high rate of unemployment which has made young Nigerian susceptible to criminal and divisive elements who profit from insecurity, banditry and kidnapping” he said.

He also urged government to buy into the project which adopts a unique and futuristic approach of pedagogical excellence that will help position the nation for global competitiveness in the era of rapid digital intrusion.